Posts filed under ‘Rumors’
On Being in the Same Room As Donald Trump
My Tweet of the Day (I think I’d feel exactly the same way):
Scientists Adopt a Tiny Washington Island to Track Climate Change
Food for thought tonight (warning to those who are science and fact adverse):
(Image via CascadeClimbers.com)
From a stretch of rocky shoreline on this tiny island [Tatoosh Island, Washington], one can, on any given morning, watch otters floating on their backs, elephant seals hauling out of the water and a bald eagle flying past murres huddled along a cliff face. The startled birds perform a synchronized dive into the sea, their ovoid black-and-white bodies resembling miniature penguins.
[...]
But for over four decades, with the blessing of Makah leaders, Tatoosh has been the object of intense biological scrutiny, and scientists say they are seeing disturbing declines across species — changes that could prove a bellwether for oceanic change globally.
Cathy Pfister and Timothy Wootton, both biology professors at the University of Chicago, have been trekking to the island since the 1980s, often accompanying their former graduate adviser, Robert T. Paine, a nominally retired zoology professor from the University of Washington. At 79, Dr. Paine still returns to Tatoosh several times a year to continue the ecological research he began in the 1960s.
[...]
Among the declines the researchers are noticing: historically hardy populations of gulls and murres are only half what they were 10 years ago, and only a few chicks hatched this spring. Mussel shells are notably thinner, and recently the mussels seem to be detaching from rocks more easily and with greater frequency.
Goose barnacles are also suffering, and so are the hard, splotchy, wine-colored coralline algae, which appear like graffiti along rocky shorelines.
While not entirely understood, the declines are not entirely mysterious. Biologists suspect that the shifts are related to huge declines in the water’s pH, a shift attributed to the absorption of excess carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in ever-greater amounts by the burning of fossil fuels for energy.
[...]
“You can predict change,” Dr. Paine said, “and most of the changes are going to be in a direction we don’t want.”
Why Wingnuts Want to See Obama’s College Records
Ever wonder what the big fuss over on the right is about seeing President Obama’s college records? Me too.
Now we know:
(Image via TempCity.com)
In context of the “mounting pressure” for Mitt Romney to provide more tax and employment records, a reporter recently asked White House Press Secretary Jay Carney whether President Obama would set an example in transparency and release some of his records that critics have asked for.
[...]
When the reporter got specific and asked if Obama would release his college records, Carney replied: “Right, this is the Donald Trump question. It is preposterous. This is from the guy who insisted he didn’t believe the president was born in the United States.”
Asking for college records is preposterous?
Writing for the TheBlaze.com, Jason Howerton suggests:
Carney was obviously trying to lump those who are interested to see what types of college courses Obama took in college into the same category as ‘birthers.’ However, many who want to see the president’s college transcripts say wanting to see the president’s transcripts has nothing to do with his citizenship. Rather they argue it could help provide insight into the types of courses Obama sought out while in college, which some believe promoted radical ideologies.
Yes, many want to see Obama’s college records for grades and courses (as with G.W. Bush and others). But in Obama’s case, the primary reason to see his college applications is to learn whether the president applied for college in the U.S. as a foreign student.
Imagine thinking that’s the most important, urgent thing going on around here.
About Liberal Hollywood Hippies
This would be “liberal media” hippies; Obama-loving, hedonistic, druggie, Socialist Hollywood:
About Liar Allen West and All Those Commies in Congress
You probably heard that the wingnuttiest wingnut of them all, Congressman Allen West (R-FL), said yesterday that a good number of Democratic congresspeople in D.C. are Communists.
Here’s a follow-up:
This just goes to show that there is no such thing as a boring town hall when Republican Congressman Allen West is speaking. At a town hall in Jensen Beach Tuesday covered by TCPalm, a man asked West this question (this is the best we could make out in the video) “what percentage of the American Legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists (something garbled) Socialists?”
West’s reply: “That’s a good question. I believe it’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party are members of the Communist Party.”
PolitiFact asked West’s spkeswoman [sic] Angela Melvin for an explanation today: “The Congressman was referring to the 76 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The Communist Party has publicly referred to the Progressive Caucus as its allies. The Progressive Caucus speaks for itself. These individuals certainly aren’t proponents of free markets or individual economic freedom.”
We read that response to Jennifer Gore, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota who co-chairs the caucus. Here’s a snapshot of what she said: “all of that is false.”
Posing in front of a flag doesn’t make you a patriot Mr. West. But lying does make you a liar.
News Outlets With Agendas
This is crazy.
Check out this headline at the Daily Mail,
over this picture:
Caters News Agency
An otter looks to the heavens and prays for food?
Forget the headline. Read the article:
‘I took the photos at Whipsnade Zoo, which has this island with a purpose built moat for the otters. I had to hide there for a long time to get the shot.
‘The otter was running around cradling a stone under his arm when he was surprised by another otter jumping out of the water which caused him to jump and throw the stone in the air.
‘When he started trying to grab it I took the snap.’
Gee. Imagine what your memory of this would be if all you read was the headline.
Neti Pots Kill People: That Per “Officials” in Charge of Water in Louisiana
“Officials” responsible for tap water in Louisiana blame deaths from contaminated water there on a ceramic pot. No, I’m not kidding:
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has issued a warning about improper Neti pot use, which has been linked to two deadly infections.
A 51-year-old woman from DeSoto Parish and a 20-year-old man from St. Bernard Parish, a suburb of New Orleans, died after using Neti pots containing tap water to flush their sinuses. Both became infected with Naegleria fowleri, a parasite known as the brain-eating amoeba.
“If you are irrigating, flushing or rinsing your sinuses, for example, by using a Neti pot, use distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution,” Louisiana State epidemiologist Dr. Raoult Ratard said in a statement. “Tap water is safe for drinking but not for irrigating your nose.”
Tap water is safe for drinking but not for irrigating one’s nose? A ceramic pot is the lynch pin in all this?
That makes no sense.
Verizon: This is What Happens When You Hire Undereducated Kids at the Minimum Wage
You get what you pay for:
Not quite the “War Of The Worlds” broadcast of a Martian invasion in New Jersey, a Verizon “emergency” alert Monday that the company texted to its wireless customers still jangled some nerves and triggered hundreds of calls from concerned residents to local and state offices.
The company sent the alert to customers in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties, warning of a “civil emergency” and telling people to “take shelter now.” Trouble was, the message was meant to be a test but it wasn’t labeled as such, Verizon later admitted.
Geezus. How hard is it to begin a text message with: THIS IS A TEST?
The Liberal Media Gives Occupy Oakland 30 Seconds
Republicans have been screaming for 30 years that the media is liberal. And we’ve heard it for so long we believe them.
But this is the reality:
Yo Republicans — Please Ignore All Government Warnings This Weekend
This would be our Tweet of the Day:
Irene is a government plot to drive you out of your house and into a concentration camp so Obama can take all your money and give to women in Kenya who want abortions. Yeeeeeeeee.
Planned Parenthood’s “Abortionplex” — Yikes!
The Onion:
Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex
The state-of-the-art facility, which features an IMAX movie theater as well as multiple fetus incinerators.
Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday the grand opening of its long-planned $8 billion Abortionplex, a sprawling abortion facility that will allow the organization to terminate unborn lives with an efficiency never before thought possible.
During a press conference, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards told reporters that the new state-of-the-art fetus-killing facility located in the nation’s heartland offers quick, easy, in-and-out abortions to all women, and represents a bold reinvention of the group’s long-standing mission and values.
Hey, it’s The Onion folks. But no. Wingers believe it. Note some of their reactions:
– PAID FOR WITH TAX DOLLARS — MAKE ME SICK!
– Planned Parenthood’s Auschwitz . Who would have thought?
– Something is seriously wrong with our society…..WOW….I am sickened and saddened by our society.
Read more here.
Dumbed down or WHAT?
Is it any wonder Republicans what to cut funding for schools? It works to their advantage and people fall for this stuff.
Ah. Mazing.
Why do Weather People Have to Have Facts But Political Pundts Don’t?
As I write, tornadoes are roaring across Oklahoma, heading toward Norman, Enid and Oklahoma City. MSNBC and CNN are both airing live coverage but Fox, of course, can’t stop propagandizing.
That said, MSNBC’s Cenk Uygar just spoke to NBC meteorologist Bill Karins
Bill Karins
about what’s happening and as he ended their conversation, Uygar asked Karins what he thought was causing this rash of terrible tornadoes. Karins speculated that it could be climate change but “the one thing we know for sure” is that this is an El Nino year so the climate is more volatile than usual. Back to climate change, Karins said he couldn’t “prove” climate change was a factor.
Bottom line? Weather people hesitate to name climate change as one of the reasons for this wild weather but when someone like Tim Pawlenty lies through his teeth while announcing he’s running for president (hey, no problem):
“Truth” was Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s buzzword today when he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He said he will tell the truth about hard choices facing the nation while others — President Barack Obama notably among them — do not.
A parsing of Pawlenty’s opening-day statements shows they were not the whole truth.
Here is a sampling of his claims today and how they compare with the facts.
PAWLENTY: “The truth is, people getting paid by the taxpayers shouldn’t get a better deal than the taxpayers themselves. That means freezing federal salaries, transitioning federal employee benefits, and downsizing the federal work force as it retires.” — Campaign announcement.
THE FACTS: A federal pay freeze is already in effect. Obama proposed and Congress approved a two-year freeze on the pay of federal employees, exempting the armed forces, Congress and federal courts.
So ,there’s no rhyme or reason when it comes to “proof” or fact in the American “news” media. Beltway pundits listen to lies every day but the weather guys have to have “proof” before they say a thing.
Goodbye Raptured People
Woohah — the Rapture is upon us. Per a report by Cenk Uygur on MSNBC tonight the earthquake, which will start the ball rolling, will begin as soon as the time hits 6:00 a.m. at the earliest place on the planet, and that would be American Samoa. Again, per Cenk, 6:00 a.m. will hit American Samoa at 11:00 p.m. PDT tonight, so that would be midnight my time, 10:00 p.m. CDT in Indiana and Ohio and thereabouts and 9:00 p.m. EDT in NYC, DC, Boston and Miami.
As I write, it’s 9:28 p.m. EDT on the east coast.
The Rapture is HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!
I think I’ll scamper on over to this Rapture After Party:
Goodbye climate deniers.
Goodbye gay bashers.
Goodbye American Taliban and the Religious righties who don’t respect the separation of church and state.
I could go on but I volunteered my time at a food bank today, yesterday and for the last two years helping the poor, so I’m freaking tired after spending hours moving cases of canned food around. What would Jesus think?
Schwarzenegger Rumor Reported as Fact by CBS4Denver’s Shaun Boyd
This is how rumors get started: The top story tonight on my local CBS4News in Denver was the saga of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The segment, reported by Shaun Boyd
concluded with Boyd reading the text of this Tweet by Patrick Schwarzenegger from minutes ago earlier today:
Boyd concluded her report with: Patrick “signed the Tweet, Patrick SHRIVER.”
He did? Anyone see that?
I don’t know where Boyd got her information but obviously, she didn’t confirm it. It would have taken five seconds.
I know what’s going on with the Schwarzeneggers isn’t Earth shattering but this is indicative of how “journalists” have lost their way around here.
Bottom line? Don’t trust a thing you see on teevee. Rumor, hearsay and gossip is now reported as fact. “Journalists” are apparently too busy or too underpaid or too whatever to do their basic job.
(I will post video if I can find it. I didn’t have my DVR on when this happened.)
Douglas Brinkley Calls on NBC to Fire Trump
This is historian Douglas Brinkley “moments ago” on CNN:
Douglas Brinkley
We don’t have to blame “the media” for dealing with this issue. We have to blame NBC Entertainment. They need to dump Trump from his primetime news show. He’s a poison toad on the airwaves. What corporate sponsor is going to be buying ad time for Donald Trump’s show. Any company that goes into Trump and is willing to pay is going to find consumer boycott like they’ve never seen before. If you are going to do what Trump did and go after the President of the United States in such a grotesque and disingenuous way you better cough up the goods. Today the Obama administration has shown what a charlatan Donald Trump really is.
It would be great if NBC did fire Trump but I think the blame for the last few weeks of this insanity can be spread all across the media, including “progressive” radio. Everyone involved should be ashamed.
It’s an interesting bout of coincidence, Fox News’ recent obsession with President Obama’s birth certificate. The sudden obsession that produced more than 50 birther segments on Fox News in recent months.
(Image via.)
Let’s Keep This Train Rollin’!
Tweet of the day:
I say the new national emergency will be WHERE ARE OBAMA’S COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS?
Obama’s Certificate of Live Birth
The White House released the “long form” version of President Obama’s birth certificate today. A few minutes ago, the President came out and said it’s time the media stop listening to “carnival barkers” (here’s lookin’ at you Donald) and concentrate on the serious issues facing the country.
Yes, the “news” media is a national embarrassment but it ain’t gonna happen. I give it oh, roughly 90-minutes before the wingers find something “wrong” with this new version and the whole “controversy” will start anew.
The Civil War — a Liberal Fantasy
I’m nodding off but I want to post this before I misplace the link:
The Civil War is about to loom very large in the popular memory. We would do well to be candid about its causes and not allow the distortions of contemporary politics or long-standing myths to cloud our understanding of why the nation fell apart.
The coming year will mark the 150th anniversary of the onset of the conflict, which is usually dated to April 12, 1861, when Confederate batteries opened fire at 4:30 a.m. on federal troops occupying Fort Sumter. Union forces surrendered the next day, after 34 hours of shelling.
[...]
Why does getting the story right matter? As Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s recent difficulty with the history of the civil rights years demonstrates, there is to this day too much evasion of how integral race, racism and racial conflict are to our national story. We can take pride in our struggles to overcome the legacies of slavery and segregation. But we should not sanitize how contested and bloody the road to justice has been. We will dishonor the Civil War if we refuse to face up to the reason it was fought.
Oh God. Fox is going to spend the next four months remaking history here. The desired result? Conservatives white southerners were never against “negroes” or slavery. Heck no. They “don’t remember it as being that bad” and it wasn’t that bad. The whole thing is the “liberal media’s” fault. They’ve been been making stuff up for 150 years.
A Car That Runs on Air!
Wow, this is so cool: a car that runs on air:
A company in the UK is developing it (see link above).
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, U.S. coal consumption rose 1.4% last week alone.
Michael Moore Annihilates Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity & Andrew Breitbart on Twitter
I don’t have access to the secret world of television ratings info and focus group this-and-that about whether or not this-or-that “media personality” is raking in the viewers or listeners or readers on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. I have to rely on other means of figuring out what’s going on out there — despite what “they” say.
If being followed on Twitter is any indication, I think flaming liberals are doing just fine, thank you very much:
Sean Hannity has 87,640 Twitter followers as of a few minutes ago:
Andrew Breitbart has 27,586 followers:
Glenn Beck has 305,583:
And as for the guy the wingers and the “liberal media” want you to think is the most hated, un-American man in the US — Michael Moore? He has 700,000+ followers:
He annihilates the other guys.
What does that tell ya?
Bull Riders in Wichita Draw a Bigger Crowd Than Sarah Palin
On July 7, the Sedgwick County (Kansas) Commissioners were given a “monthly status report” on tickets sold and revenue generated in May at the new Intrust arena in Wichita:
There were 3,087 tickets sold for the Palin speech on May 2, totaling $156,025. She was brought in to help raise funds for the Bethel Life School Association of Wichita.
Rock band Nickelback pulled in the largest crowd of the month with 11,163 attending the concert on May 14.
May’s six events saw a total attendance of 43,763 for an average of 5,470.
Gross ticket sales for those six events were $2.1 million. The arena’s net income for May was $397,612.
Totals for January through May saw the arena’s attendance at 244,841 with gross ticket sales at $7.7 million. Average attendance during that period for the 61 performances of the 41 events was 4,731.
Net income for the first five months was $1.6 million.
“The first five months have been very good months,” Assistant County Manager Ron Holt told the commissioners.
Other events for the month and their attendance:
* Professional Bull Riders, 9,899 for two performances
* Brooks & Dunn, 9,027
* Star Wars, 5,948 for two performances
* Daughtry, 4,753.
Hah. Palin’s alleged popularity is a figment of the “liberal” media’s imagination. The attention she gets is disproportionate to the reality on the ground.
So, what else is new, right?
Can’t Trust Five Thirty Eight –Partnering With the New York Times
Five Thirty Eight used to be my go-to place for poll results — specifically — poll results in the run-up to the 2008 election. Nate Silver got it right every time. But now that he’s partnered with the New York Times (think Judith Miller, for starters), Five Thirty Eight is off my list.
Newsmax Gets it Wrong Again: Says Holding Off on Military Pay Increases is a “Pay Reduction”
The Washington Post on Saturday: “Pentagon Asking Congress to Hold Back on Generous Increases in Troop Pay:”
Congress has been so determined to take care of troops and their families that for several years running it has overruled the Pentagon and mandated more-generous pay raises than requested by the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. It has also rejected attempts by the Pentagon to slow soaring health-care costs — which Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has said are “eating us alive” — by raising co-pays or premiums.
Now, Pentagon officials see fiscal calamity.
In the midst of two long-running wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, defense officials are increasingly worried that the government’s generosity is unsustainable and that it will leave them with less money to buy weapons and take care of equipment.
With Washington confronting record deficits, the Pentagon is bracing for an end to the huge increases in defense spending of the past decade. On Saturday, Gates is scheduled to give a “hard-hitting” speech in Kansas on fiscal discipline, in which he will warn military leaders that “we’ll have to take some dramatic measures ourselves to sustain the force we have,” his press secretary, Geoff Morrell, told reporters.
That said, I was alerted to this Newsmax article via an email today: “Outrage: Obama Administration Targets Military for Pay Reductions.“
(1) Far as I can tell, there aren’t going to be any “cuts” to what we pay the troops; just fewer “generous increases.”
(2) Yes, technically, the “Obama administration” is looking to reduce the military budget but may I suggest this alternative headline: “Bush-Appointee, Defense Secretary Bill Gates, Targets Military Pay.”
(3) Why aren’t wingers and Teabaggers applauding this because hey, it shrinks the government and that’s what they’re all about, right?
Huh? Huh? Huh?
The GOP Thinks Urging Kids to Work Hard in School is Socialism
On September 8, President Obama will give an address to students:
[O]n the importance of education. The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.
The GOP’s response? He’s spreading his “socialist agenda!”
This is from a September 1 press release from the head of the Florida GOP:
Tallahassee - Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer today released the following statement condemning President Obama’s use of taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda.
As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other President, is not only unfuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.
They’re nothing but lying fear mongerers.
Sarah Palin’s Orgasmic Patriotism
Her latest tweet:
Sarah’s feeeeelin’ good. Who wouldn’t if they were about to rake in a bazillion dollars?
Treason! — Per Fox News — Clean Air Will Destroy the Country
Yesterday the House of Representatives passed a “sweeping energy and climate bill” which would,
for the first time usher in widespread government restrictions on greenhouse gases and help renewable energy become cost competitive with fossil fuels.
Fox’s response?
The “folks” at Fox are on your side? Think again. It’s about: Money. Power. Corporations. Money. Lobbyist. Crushing We the People. Money. Union? Health care? No! Money. You and me = “industrial base” = dumb fucks. Powerless = good. Money. They want us to feel hopeless. Power. Money. We should be happy breathing soot! Money. Power: Not! Sit down. Shut up.
Mark Sanford – These are “Family Values”?
Mark Sanford, the Republican governor of South Carolina took off last Thursday and hasn’t been seen since. Yesterday his wife said she didn’t know where he was. His office said he was hiking. Today they said he would be back at work tomorrow. But his wife still hasn’t heard from him.
Baring some sort of amnesia, if my husband took off six days ago without telling me and without calling at some point — early on — to tell me what was up, I’d be furious, especially if I was at home with four young sons! It’s rude. It’s selfish. It’s arrogant. It’s irresponsible. It’s immature. Just what we want in a president (Sanford is, or was, thought of as a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate), hey?
Mark Sanford: Fox News Promotes Implausible Excuse for His Disappearance
The “journalists” at Fox “News” quote a representative of Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and call it a day:
So, Sanford vanishes — immediately prior to Father’s Day weekend (he has three kids) — without letting his wife know? He’s a governor but he doesn’t have a cellphone or a Blackberry or any other means of communication? Who’s in charge while Sanford’s on his “hike”? Is there a lieutenant governor in SC? Was he/she formally put in charge? Yes? No? If not, why not?
So many questions.
Imagine the screams we’d be hearing from Fox if Sanford was a Democrat.
(See related posts below.)
